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Notes A workshop with needle art'tst Constance Howard Constance Howard has been one of my heroines ever since I discovered her book, Inspiration for Embroidery (Charles T. Branford, 1966), almost 15 years ago. It is full of the same spirit with which I'd been taught embroidery by my grandmother when I was eight. In August of 1986, I attended two one-week workshops with Constance Howard, sponsored by Fiber Fun (Helen Wood Pope, proprietor), in San Francisco, CA. I arrived at the old Victorian house with my Singer featherweight and a suitcase full of embroidery supplies. There was a work table for each of the 11 students who had already been to many of Constance's workshops; the 6 of us who were new sat together at the dining table. We all had different projects to work on. The common thread that bound us was the desire to share, to explore, and to learn from Constance Howard. When she first asked us what our project plans were, we new students had long, ambitious lists. Our instructor smiled and helped us begin. We soon reduced our goals to the reality of our proficiency, time, and energy. Even the advanced students lowered their sights. This relaxed atmosphere is one of the hallmarks of a Constance Howard workshop. She does not expect her students to learn in just one workshop what she has learned in 74 years. Finished projects were not the main goal; it was a time to experiment and to grow new wings. Constance Howard is an energized and energizing woman. She moved from student to student, giving her full attention to each one. With her quiet humor and encouragement, she let us know we were going in the right direction. Design was constantly emphaSized: To design, you must have a purpose, and you must always keep it in mind. Will the piece be a dress, a drape, a liturgical banner, an upholstery fabric? Draw a simple outline of the thing you want to make; then sketch patterns inside the shape. Plan, simplify, and then simplify some more-you need less pattern and color than you think. The techniques must be suitable. Don't use loose stitches on clothes or chair seats. Don't waste time with cheap materials. If you've made a fabric that you don't like, cut it apart and rearrange it on another background until you have something you do like. Analyze why something works or doesn't work. Look at your surroundings-at rooms, at people, at gardens, at displays. One afternoon, as we were leaving for the day, Constance picked some remnants out of the bagfuls we had brought to share. The next morning, she showed us the new blouse she had created to wear to a party being given in her honor. The shape of the blouse was a perfect companion for her black skirt; the greenturquoise pieces brought out the greenturquoise color in her hair. (She calls herself a punk grandmother, but she has worn her hair this way for 20 years.) "Don't ever throw anything away," she told us. "Collect things to play with. Save rocks, shells, fabric, and yarn scraps. Everything. You may have trouble getting into your house, but you'll have so many wonderful design ideas." One day as Constance and I lingered over lunch, she said, "Look, there's a good example of why one should be aware of one's surroundings at all times. There are ideas for designs all around us." Leaves had created a shadow that looked like a bird-no, a fish-a bird with a large tail, or a fish fishing. As we watched the shadow, I asked Constance how she had become involved in needle arts and who had taught her. No one had, she told me. When she was 8, she taught herself to embroider. She wanted a new dress, so she simply sat down and made one. She continued to explore and experiment on her own, and at 15 she began training in embroidery and wood engraving at the Northampton School of Art. When she was 21, she studied book illustration and wood engraving at the Royal College of Art. From there, she accumulated a three-page-Iong resume of awards, exhibitions, commissions, publications, and teaching and lecturing accomplishments. During the workshop, I had been learning machine embrOidery, one of the most difficult and frustrating needle-art techniques to learn. As my sewingmachine needles and threads kept breaking, a steady stream of caring fellow students came by to encourage me and give good advice. "Keep the fabric taut, and the needle won't break." "Move the needle fast and the fabric slowly, and the thread won't break." Carolin Coverly, one of Constance Howard's long-time students, noticed that my work was going along beautifully every afternoon and that everything went wrong in the mornings. I had found my mind and body sewing-machine rhythms! From then on, I spent my mornings designing, working on my notes, and going for walks in the San Francisco fog and sunshine. Afternoons, I glided along on my samples of sewing-machine embroidery. Carolin was working on a sweatsuit, with ribbon stripes planned to make pleasing negative and positive shapes. When she tried on the top, the stripes didn't drape properly, so she shifted them until they had the same balanced feeling they had in the paper pattern. As we were admiring Carolin's work, Constance interrupted us. "Don't chatter too much. You won't be able to hear yourselves think. Talk to yourselves. It's good when a class is heard muttering to itself." By Kate Hearst, a free-lance writer and iUustrator in Berkeley, CA. No workshop is planned with Constance Howard in the U.S. for 1988. Watch "Calendar" for future opportunities. 18 Threads Magazine